The present invention relates to an emboss roller that can give projecting-and-recessed embosses on a surface sheet and a method for producing a surface sheet which is rich in three-dimensional effects, has high cushion properties, eliminates skin trouble by reducing a contact area with the skin and is excellent in shape maintainability of the projecting-and-recessed embosses and the like.
Hitherto, surface materials of absorbent articles in which appropriate emboss patterns are given in accordance with various purposes such as suppression of a wet feeling by reducing a contact area with skin or improvement of texture and touch on the skin have been offered in the market. This type of articles includes those described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2004-174234 and Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2009-50538, for example.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2004-174234 proposes a surface sheet 50 for an absorbent article used on a skin contact surface of the absorbent article as illustrated in FIG. 9, which has an upper layer 51 made of a sheet-shaped article directed to the skin side of a wearer and substantially not expanding or contracting and a lower layer 52 made of a sheet-shaped article disposed on the absorber side and substantially not expanding or contracting, in which the upper layer 51 and the lower layer 52 are partially joined and a large number of joined portions are formed, the upper layer 51 projects toward the skin side of the wearer in a portion other than the joined portions and has a large number of projecting portions formed with hollow insides, the projecting portions and the joined portions are arranged alternately and forming a row in one direction, a plurality of the rows is provided, and with respect to any projecting portion in one row, a projecting portion is not located at a position adjacent to the one projecting portion in the right and left rows adjacent to the row. In a method for producing this surface sheet, as illustrated in FIG. 10, the upper layer 51 is shaped with projections and recesses by meshing the upper layer 51 with a meshed part between a first roll 53 having a peripheral face with a projecting-and-recessed shape and a second roll 54 having a projecting-and-recessed shape meshed with the projecting-and-recessed shape of the first roll 53 on the peripheral face, the lower layer 52 is overlapped while the upper layer 51 in the projected-and-recessed shaped state is held on the peripheral face in the first roll 53 through suctioning, and the lower layer 52 is joined to the upper layer 51 located above the projecting portion in the first roll 53. An enlarged view of an essential part of the first roll 53 is illustrated in FIG. 11.
Also, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2009-50538, as illustrated in FIG. 12, a sheet 60 for an absorbent article is proposed in which a first sheet 61 having an outer layer and an inner layer is intermittently joined to a second sheet 62 on the inner layer side, projecting portions projecting to the first sheet 61 side formed between the joined portions are consecutively provided on the sheet 60 for an absorbent article, and fibers constituting the outer layer of the first sheet 61 are fibers thinner than the fibers constituting the inner layer. In a producing method thereof, as illustrated in FIG. 13, first, the first sheet 61 is fed out of an original fabric, and the second sheet 62 is fed out of the original fabric at the same time. The fed-out first sheet 61 is meshed with a meshed portion P1 between a first roll 63 having a projecting-and-recessed shape on the peripheral face and a second roll 64 having the projecting-and-recessed shape, which is a shape meshed with the projecting-and-recessed shape, on the peripheral face so as to shape the first sheet 61 with projections and recesses. The first sheet 61 which was shaped with projections and recesses by meshing between the first roll 63 and the second roll 64 is brought into close contact with the peripheral face of the first roll 63 by a suction force by a suction portion formed in the first roll 63, and the shaped state with projections and recesses are maintained. In the state in which the first sheet 61 is sucked and brought into close contact with the peripheral face of the first roll 63 at a merging portion P2, the first sheet 61 is laminated with the second sheet 62 supplied separately, and the first sheet 61 and the second sheet 62 located at the distal end of a projecting portion of a gear of the first roll 63 are joined together by thermal fusion bonding. A compound sheet in which the first sheet 61 and the second sheet 62 are bonded together is heated and compressed again at a portion P3 by the first roll 63 and a fourth roll 65 so that an adhesion force is improved appropriately and a firmly fixed joined portion is formed, and shape stability of the projection portion is maintained.